Electrochemical supercapacitors provide a mechanism for storage of electrical energy. A supercapacitor is typically formed of two electrodes separated by an electrolyte layer.
Amitha et al. (J. Nanopart. Res. (2009) 11:725-729) disclose a supercapacitor using non-aqueous electrolyte and multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNTs) nanocomposite electrodes. The electrodes were designed with polymer and metal oxide loaded carbon nanotubes. More specifically, TiO2 functionalized nanotubes were obtained by coating TiO2 over the MWNTs using a sol-gel process. The nanocomposites were then coated onto carbon paper using a Nafion solution to obtain flexible electrodes. The carbon paper with the nanocomposite coating was subsequently pressed to both sides of a Nafion membrane, which acts both as a separator and as an electrolyte. Since the TiO2/MWNT nanocomposite is prepared by dispersion, one can assume that there is no distinct metal oxide layer.
Reddy et al. (Nanoscale Res. Lett. (2008) 3:145-151) disclose an asymmetric double supercapacitor stack fabricated using polymer/MWNTs and metal oxide/MWNTs coated over a flexible carbon fabric as electrodes and a Nafion™ membrane as a solid electrolyte. The MWNTs were prepared by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and the metal oxide functionalized nanotubes were obtained using a sol-gel process. Since the MWNT-based nanocomposite is prepared by dispersion, one can assume that there is no distinct layer of active electrode material.
The present disclosure refers to a number of documents, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.